1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bioreactor and a process for production thereof and, more particularly a bioreactor suited for use of analysis, diagnosis and synthesis which comprises immobilizing a peptide-containing compound such as a biocatalyst, etc. to a specific carrier, as well as a process for production thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, immobilized glasses which comprise immobilized peptide-containing compounds such as an enzyme or the like on a glass carrier have been employed as bioreactors for use in analysis, diagnosis or synthesis. As a process for producing these bioreactors, a process which comprises treating the surface of a SiO.sub.2 type glass previously obtained by a fusion technique with an alkali to form hydroxy groups therein, introducing, e.g., aminoalkyl groups, into the hydroxy group and then immobilizing an enzyme or the like, is known and has been reduced to practical use. To introduce functional groups such as the aforesaid aminoalkyl groups, a method using various silane coupling agents is known.
In the prior art process, however, a step of forming hydroxy groups at the glass surface was required. In addition, the amount of the hydroxy group per unit area which could be formed at this step was limited and an amount of the peptide-containing compound to be immobilized was also limited. It was thus difficult to obtain bioreactors having an increased amount of the peptide-containing compound and having high activity.
The present invention has been accomplished, attempting to eliminate the foregoing problems.
On the other hand, a process for preparing metal oxide glasses which comprises hydrolyzing metal alkoxides as raw materials and treating the resulting glass-like gels at high temperatures is known in the field of glass production, in particular in the field of optical glass production.
The present inventors have found that glass-like gels formed by hydrolyzing metal alkoxides under mild conditions are useful as carriers for immobilizing peptide-containing compounds. Bioreactors can thus be easily obtained incorporating increased amounts of the peptide-containing compounds per unit carrier, in accordance with the present invention.